Tailor-made Holidays
Customized Tours for all of Cuba
Passionate about architecture, want to immerse yourself in gardens, a history buff, or on a voyage of self-discovery, we’ll build an affordable and fascinating tour just for you, your family, your friends. Here are some things to think about while planning your Cuban adventure.
- These tours are for individuals, small groups of 2 or 3 people, and groups of up to 8 people. Over 8 we suggest that your group divide up into two or more smaller groups for most of the tour days. We want to make sure that everyone enjoys the experience to the full.
- Are you all passionate about the same things – are there divergent interests or some people accompanying the passionate.
- If one or two people would rather do something different for a couple of days or just when the rest of the group has a specific tour – let us know early on – we can usually arrange for the group to split up and then join together. (Birding groups – non-birders might enjoy a naturalist walk in the same area, visiting galleries, a spa day, or exploring the city with our NEVER GET LOST MAP!)
- If your passion is for something not on our tour list – we are happy to develop a tour especially for you. We are experienced researchers and have connections all over Cuba. Special tours require time! Our passion is to make your holiday the best possible experience.
- Where are you coming from – currently US flights arrive in Habana only. Less expensive flights from France come in through Santiago and fly on to other islands in the French Caribbean. There are flights from Jamaica arriving in Santiago and Habana. Before the pandemic there were direct flights from Cancun to Habana and Santiago. Canadian airlines fly into various airports. We can book your flights. We arrange meet and greet, airport transfers, airport pickup.
- If you want to see all of Cuba or both Oriente and Habana/Western Cuba – we recommend always that you start in Eastern Cuba and go out through Habana/Varadero. Internal travel works better that way round.
- Cuba is a very large island. 1000Kms between Santiago on the south coast and Habana on the north coast. Flights hub through Habana. There are no multi-city internal flights. Not all cities are linked by air. Not all cities have daily flights. Internal flights are weather dependent as they fly lower. If you are stuck we will do our best to help you – but in an emergency it is often difficult to find alternative transportation – weather sufficiently difficult to stop flights is likely to disrupt all travel. We try to leave space for unforeseen happenings. We like people to be in or near their departure city at least 48 hours in advance of their flight. Airlines sometimes change their flight times.
- Road travel – only parts of Cuba are serviced by a divided highway. Road surfaces are dependent on the latest hurricane damage, and availability of supplies.
- Until the pandemic we relied on inter-city buses for non-tour intercity travel. This was mostly reliable and affordable – depending on weather, state of the roads and traffic. We are waiting to find out when schedules will be resumed and under what conditions.
- Accommodations – we can book hotel and bed and breakfast stays throughout Cuba.
- Food – in most of the houses food is good to excellent. In restaurants – we have tried to select ones with interesting food, well prepared, and with reasonable service. If you have a vegetarian diet please let us know – Cubans in general don’t understand that vegetarian means no meat, and sometimes no fish, or eggs, but should be much more than a salad. Gluten free is more understood, but products are generally only available to Cubans on special diets. Most tour days include lunch.
- Prices – Cuba has undergone a major restructuring of its monetary system, wages, and prices. This process began on January 1st 2021 and continues rippling through the economy. Prices of farm products, imports, and basic commodities have increased substantially. This process has been distorted by the increased pressure of the US embargo for the last two years, by the pandemic, and by the continuing world-wide crisis in shipping. Hotel prices, bnb’s, local transport, meals, entrance fees are all in an adjustment process. Many stores now only accept local bank cards or foreign credit/debit cards (not drawn on US banks) See Pre-Tour Information for more on this.
- If you have an overall budget – please share it with us. We can advise where it is worthwhile spending and where it is possible to reduce costs.
- Enjoy visiting our tour pages using the links under Plan Your Experience in the main menu and telling us about your dream holiday.
- Travel with children – Please see our Family Holidays.
